Nasa's InSight lander has detected the first proof that Mars, which lacks tectonic plates, is seismically active (Ars Technica). On April 6, the seismometer developed by France's CNES space agency registered a "quiet but distinct seismic signal". The recording is available to listen to online and is being analysed alongside other potential seismic readings while the team awaits further marsquakes.

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Waymo has announced that the US city of Detroit will become home to its autonomous vehicle assembly plant (Detroit Free Press). Set to begin production this year, the facility will integrate the company's autonomous driving systems into Chrysler Pacifica and Jaguar I-Pace cars that will become part of the Alphabet subsidiary's autonomous taxi fleet.

Nasa has detected the formation of potentially devastating Tropical Storm Kenneth, currently set to make landfall in Mozambique on Thursday or Friday, which could gain strength to become a cyclone (Gizmodo). The coastal African nation is still rebuilding damaged infrastructure in the wake of March's Cyclone Idai, which claimed over 1,000 lives.

The notion of singularity – which includes the idea that AI will supercede humans with its exponential growth, making everything we humans have done and will do insignificant – is a religion created mostly by people who have designed and successfully deployed computation to solve problems previously considered impossibly complex for machines (WIRED). In Silicon Valley, the combination of groupthink and the financial success of this cult of technology has created a feedback loop, lacking in self-regulation (although #techwontbuild, #metoo and #timesup are forcing some reflection).

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Multiple Epic Games employees have described unstainable working conditions following the vast and enduring global success of Fortnite Battle Royale (Polygon). Staff describe regular 70 hour work weeks that can rise to 100 hours, a culture in which time off is technically allowed but tacitly forbidden and the use of contractors as disposable "bodies".

Epic claims that it has struggled to grow its workforce to keep up with the punishing update schedule it has chosen to set for Fortnite.